Nintendo Direct/Indie World/Treehouse/Showcase Discussion Thread - Directly 2 You

I don't know if I'd have liked this more or less if I'd watched it properly.  As it was I skimmed through snippets on mute while I was meant to be in a meeting.  It didn't have much impact, but that did mean I didn't have to listen to the terrible announcers.

Pepper Grinder and Penny's were the big announcements, but I already knew about Pepper Grinder I think?  And Penny's got leaked to hell and back.  In fact if you include leaks this felt like a net negative for me, because we didn't get HiFi Rush on Switch.  Not Nintendo's fault at all, of course: just an indictment of the times, and of people who signal-boost the leaks by reposting.  



That aside, it was a big Direct for sequels or reruns of games I didn't like the first versions of. Endless Ocean, Ender Lilies, MHS, and Pocket Card Jockey all fall into this bucket.  Very little in here for me.

Strangely excited about Snake Rattle n Roll - time to use save states to finally get past level 10. But also they didn't have a specific section on that Snufkin game; how you turn the Moomins into a videogame I don't know, but I really hope that they've got it right.

That Snufkin game had a spotlight in the Japanese Direct for some reason.

Moomins are really popular here, man.

I played Stories, it was shite, that's why I wasn't remotely considering 2. Bad series of miserable rock paper scissors combat.

I want to be friends with Nargacuga though.

Yesterday was a day of agreeing with Mas.  Today's a day of agreeing with Andy.  Jesus H. Christ.  (looks nervously at BotW)

For real though, the combat in Stories 1 at least wasn't good.  It'd be better for a MonHun fan for sure!  I suffered from not knowing the monsters from elsewhere and a lot of the blighters being reptilian.  But that doesn't fix the guessing game combat, or the bad writing.

Anyhoo, Pokémon Presents today.  I'm predicting Black/White in the style of BDSP.

I'm convinved BDSP only exists because Legends was a remake project that took on a life of its own. I also still don't think we're getting a main series game this year.

I was wrong! And you were right! I'm pleasantly surprised!

I was right about some things but I sure as shit didn't call Pokémon Z lol.

Buskalilly wrote:

Moomins are really popular here, man.

I'm quite keen on it, so my Switch might get switched on.

Didn't actually watch this (that lightbulb bit at the beginning's quite good!), but how did people find it?  

While Silksong not dropping after the related non-leak Internet developments was a bit of a moment, and I don't care for the sort of strategy Steamworld Heist 2 is peddling, but I thought there was a decent amount of interesting stuff there:
- Little Kitty Big City has large Untitled Goose Game vibes.  Also I like cats.  I thought the trailer was a bit twee but the game looks a lot of fun.
- Nice of them to release Pizza Tower on Swi- what?  Oh.  Still, might have a crack at AntonBlast, and in contrast to the above I genuinely found the trailer pretty charming.
- The Lady and I had a lot of fun with Cat Quest 2, genuinely a grand co-op time.  Cat Quest 3 will be a day-one buy.  
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is still Simogo and therefore I am still buying it.
- Yars Rising and SCHiM are both games that were there that I didn't hate the look of.
- Europa.  Chuffing hell.  

All that said, I'm definitely happier with not watching these Directs in Direct form.  Allows me to skip the nauseating voiceover, and also stops me from getting hyped for a 'one last thing' that due to the very nature of the beast is 90% of the time not going to be worth that hype.

I skipped through most of it but yeah there was a handful of interesting looking games but nothing mind blowing.

AntonBlast - Played the demo and it was good, though I wish the visual style of it was a bit cleaner since it's meant to be played at a very fast pace and the chaos of it all can make you lose track of the character or the environment.

Animal Well - I've been following this one for a while but it's going to be a PS extra game on release so I'll play it there.

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes - Simogo. I go buy.

Steamworld Heist 2 - I enjoyed the first one but they didn't really sell me on the new features they showed. So, I'll look out for reviews.

Watching again now after first time on lunch in work, and going from least to most wanted of what was shown

• Cat Quest III. Not played any of them
• ANTONBLAST. I did like the Wario games back in the day on Game Boy, just this seems off
• Valley Peaks. Reminds me of a recent VR game Stilt, just with a weird art style and talking frogs
• SteamWorld Heist II. I like the universe it's in
• Sticky Business or stitch. I get some A Little to the Left, Unpacking vibes to these along with other Indies played like this
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate. TMNT yay and leaves Apple Arcade boo roguelike
• Little Kitty, Big City. Looks like a more cute Stray
• Yars Rising. Wayforward has a decent record
• Europa. Looks gorgeous, but I remember things like Baldo, though think that got lots of patches and might be good now
• Refind Self: The Personality Test Game. I did joke this was a Playdate to EofGiz, yet I do like the look of it a lot that I may even checkout on PC before Switch. EDIT have bought on mobile as I seemed to have voucher on Play Store that this only cost 99p
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. Simogo, well Annapurna for me as I only played Sayonara Wild Hearts, Year Walk is a Wii U game that still needs a port

I don't know why people thought Silksong a game which MS seem to have marketing for would be at an Indie Showcase, it's too big of a game for a start.

I feel much the same overall, I felt there was a decent amount of interesting stuff too. There’s nothing I’m planning on getting immediately though I’ll be keeping an eye out for the reactions to Little Kitty, Big City, SCHiM and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes when they’re out. There seems to be a lot of positive hype around Animal Well as well, so it was mildly surprising to see that stuffed into a brief sizzle reel near the end.

For a big end-of-show reveal, I’m not that interested in Steamworld Heist 2 unfortunately. I was going to say that it’s been over five years since the last Steamworld Dig, but then again it’s been much closer to a decade since the original Steamworld Heist. Either way, I remember masofdas kindly giving me a code for the Wii U version but I just couldn’t get into it. I’d have preferred Steamworld Dig 3, basically.

My opinions aren't that different than anyone else's and also less interesting. Having felt a bit "meh" actually reading through that list, I realised I liked a lot of them:

• I hope Little Kitty Big City is good, it's in danger of being fun but not as funny as Untitled Goose Game etc. (but hopefully more upbeat than Stray)
  
• Antonblast looks funny but probably wishes Pizza Tower hadn't got there first.
  
• Europa please be excellent please be excellent please be excellent please be excellent please be excellent please be excellent
  
• I actually really liked Stitch - I know it's just a number puzzle game you could get in a newspaper, but the presentation of it makes a big difference
  
• Another Crab's Treasure! Yeah! I dunno what else to say
  
• SCHiM - now that's the pretentious artsy shit I like
  

Confused at:

• Yar's Rising - so this is actually tied in to the Yar's Revenge Atari game? Which was a basic shooter with a surprisingly detailed back story? And now a Metroidvania? About a young human-looking woman? Oh my medication. That might just be in all WayForward contracts though: turn main character into jiggly girl
  

Unnecessary grumpiness at:

• As someone enjoying House Flipper, I'm quite happy with games about doing mundane things, but Sticky Business looks like at best a circa-2000 website for pre-schoolers and at worst a "assume credit for other people's work" simulator. And do kids even stick stickers on things any more?
  
• Refind Self - now that's the pretentious artsy shit I don't like
  

I played Refind Self on mobile yesterday as it only £3.99 (£6.99 on steam, I believe) and I seemed to have a Google Play voucher of £3 as well, so only paid 99p.

I quite liked it, though having to play 3 times and not a huge amount to interact with from what I saw, to actually roll credits was tad meh but I don't think you're meant to do all three runs in one go (still that's less 2hrs).

Well that was a bit of a screamer wasn't it!? I mean, maybe a bit padded out to be an all-timer Direct (Looney Tunes Sports anybody? How about 50 similar-looking fantasy JRPGs?); but considering that even Nintendo now admit that the Switch is winding down and my expectations, this absolutely demolished them.

Must-Buys
- Zelda!
- Mario & Luigi!
- AAI2 officially gets an English release!
- Metroid Prime Chuffing 4!!!

Positive Balla Noises
- That Memories In Orbit robot Metroidvania thing looked quite nice didn't it? Hard though
- The Hundred Line Last Defence Academy is at least partly the Danganronpa people going back to what they're best at, which is, schoolkids watching each other die and crying about it

I'm At Least Interested
- Fantasian has good pedigree behind it, even if it is an Apple Arcade game
- Nice to have Metroid Zero Mission on NSO, even if I didn't get anywhere near the end of Fusion so probably should stay away
- Might get Mario Party Jamboree if the family demand it
- Okay Stray looks like filth on Switch but I'm still curious

Erm
- Phantom Brave has big Little Town Hero energy and that is not a good thing
- Put that Funko Pop game in the bin with all the other Funko Pops that seem to be GAME's raison d'être these days

My rankings are mostly pretty similar to Balla's.

I went in with very low expectations - we all know Nintendo's A teams are busy on Switch 2 stuff - so I got more than I was expecting. I was fully prepared to make do with the HD GC Zeldas finally getting rereleased as my big game this Winter.

I came out of the show with five day one buys that are:

Zelda, I'm super keen on this for reasons
Prime 4, just what system will I be playing it on is the question

DQIII HD-2D Remake, in turn if I like this DQ & II HD-2D
Fantasian, been waiting for this to come elsewhere for ages as love The Last Story, and this did review pretty well on Apple Arcade
LEGO Horizon, looks like a fun game even on Switch

Which the last three I'd get on PS5 (though could we see trophies on LEGO on Switch due to whole PSN login stuff on PC, as be neat to get trophies on Switch) not Switch.

---

The maybe list is:

Mario & Luigi. As said in the games thread, depends on what comes out around it, at the moment it would be a buy
Zero Mission via NSO which is a more of an update than something to get really excited about
Nintendo Switch Lite Hyrule Edition, don't need this right?

3pm UK time.

Wasn't shocked to see this as two games been listed on sites like GameStop and I've heard about one but thought it be an actual Direct showing likes of Brothership, Jamboree as those have only had one trailer each, maybe even more Zelda.

I think September is usually a proper direct month and they often follow partner/indie ones so there's still time yet.

I noticed Nintendo and the Pokémon company dropping a lot of individual trailers that might ordinarily be in a Direct or a Presents. I reckon they're keeping their powder dry and saving themselves until they're ready for some big ones - Metroid, Legends ZA, Switch 2 etc.

I went in with my expectations low and was still underwhelmed. From the indie showcase I'll wishlist Pizza Tower and I think that's it - from the 3P one I'll get Yakuza, wishlist the Castlevania collection, and keep an eye on Rune Factory.

That said, this was never going to be a big-ticket showcase. I was underwhelmed but not really disappointed. Now to await the Switch 2 reveal...

Few things for me that I'll play somewhere maybe

•Neva, loved GRIS
•Coffee Talk Tokyo, only played the second which I liked a lot
•Sea of Stars DLC, I still need to finish this especially as I'm like 19hrs into it, and I've liked what I have played
•Date Everything, because why not
•Sizzle - Europa, On Your Tail (though a game like it came out recently that looks better), Metal Slug Tactics, and The Plucky Squire.


•Capcom Fighting Collection 2, what a line-up
•Marvel Vs. Capcom Collection, kinda less stoked for this now seeing I can play Power Stone & Alpha 3 in the above online
•Atelier Yumia, looked much darker for the series
•Suikoden HD, good to see but the problem looks tad rough compared to
•Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, super excited about this one even not as a DQ fan
•The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st, still not played Trails maybe this remake be the one
•Castlevania Dominus Collection, I've not played the other collections, but one am keen for and part from like the 3D ones are all playable on PS5? As Rondo/SOTN in that one collection together
•Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, does look good and I play now & again like when on Game Pass
•Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, maybe depends whats out at the time
•Sizzle - Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed is a demo out, Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game and Lego Horizon Adventures.

A lot if you like RPG's